Standing up for the right to read

Today is International Literacy Day. Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd pointed out on his Twitter page that 800m people around the world are illiterate and, of those, two thirds are women and girls. The problem is more widespread than many people think. Yesterday, the London Evening Standard reported that more than half of London bosses say too many graduates looking for work can't spell or add up properly.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education is today publishing a report with key recommendations on how to improve adult literacy. NIACE says literacy must be regarded as a fundamental human right.

The year-long independent inquiry into adult literacy advises that the BIS should encourage initiatives such as Quick Reads, which bring together the public, private and voluntary sectors to use their particular expertise to support awareness raising, engagement of new learners, resourcing and delivery of learning opportunities.

Dean is a lecturer in political theory at the schoold of politics and international studies at the University of Leeds, and he's written the piece in the attempt to explain what gender studies entail. He fervently disagrees with Martin's accusations.

Why does discussing feminism and gender evoke such fear and anger? Dean's article received over 700 comments in less than 24 hours, the vast majority of them from men attacking the author's stance. Tokyo6 provided one of the calmer, less furious, yet critical posts:

Almost all of the original aspirations of the feminists have been achieved and become the status quo. It seems like an utterly hollow identification these days.

I don't know why the Guardian bothers to publish articles with a feminist angle, they always get completely slated. For a supposedly leftist newspaper it uncovers some remarkably right-wing views from its readers when it comes to issue of gender.

Kizbot responded to a comment describing gender studies as "all women's mistakes are the fault of men" and "the world would be a better place if it was run by women":

I did a course on women, feminism and writing as part of my English degree at the University of London... it was an intercollegiate course and I can honestly say that it was the exact opposite of this because non of the teachers allowed any such simplistic, sloppy thinking.. For instance, It actively challenged The Mad woman in the Attic theory of women's writing (er... where would Jane Austen fit in that then?). It was a great course.

Is Martin's lawsuit against the LSE a sign of things to come? Will students increasingly bring universities to task, now that they have to pay thousands of pounds a year for their courses?

•Deborah Orr explains why she thinks Toby Young should be commended for setting up his free school as an alternative to state and private schools.

• An inner city Leeds community has been campaigning for years to take ownership and turn a neglected school building into a community hub but find a lack of cash has left their bid in a critical condition. John Baron reports.

Education news from around the web

• The government's social mobility tsar, Alan Milburn, wants universities to lower requirements for the poorest students, taking the applicants' family history and school background into account during the admission process, writes the Telegraph.

• The former president of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, has become a "higher education consultant", charging universities £125 an hour for his services, writes the Independent.

• The High Court has ruled that the Metropolitan Police acted lawfully when they "kettled" three teenagers during the tuition fee protests in London, reports the BBC.

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